Eurozone leaders find solution to Greek crisis after 18 hours

EUROZONE leaders discussed Greece behind closed doors for almost 18 hours. The longest meeting in Europe's history ended after Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, shortly before 9 a.m. Central European Time, posted on Twitter a single, long-awaited word: "Agreement".

Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, wrote on Twitter that the deal was reached unanimously. He added that Greece will receive funds from the European Stability Mechanism, and in return must implement serious reforms. Details of the agreement will be announced soon at a press conference in Brussels.

"We cannot afford to get tired"

Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas earlier said via Twitter: "We cannot afford to get tired. We will work as long as necessary." However, the summit began to thin out this morning.

The first to give in was Miro Cerar, Prime Minister of Slovenia, who left the summit around 7 a.m. and said that Slovenia was transferring its vote to the Netherlands. Cerar had to withdraw due to a previously scheduled meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Ljubljana. 

An hour after Cerar, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė left the summit. She told reporters on her way out that a deal was almost reached. 

Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, appeared this morning on French radio RTL. He said that no one wants to kick Greece out of the eurozone, but to avoid that, trust needs to be restored. 

"Greece must go a step further in implementing reforms. We need a compromise between responsibility and solidarity," Moscovici stated.

Compromise proposal on the table

German, French and Greek leaders, along with the President of the European Council, presented a compromise proposal on the table that would help keep Greece in the eurozone and submitted it to other eurozone leaders for adoption, a source close to the negotiations said on Monday.

"There is an agreement of the four that has been forwarded to all other leaders of the 19 eurozone countries," the source told AFP, shortly after the European Council announced the continuation of discussions at the summit with a "compromise" on the table.

The compromise was presented by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and European Council President Donald Tusk, the source close to the negotiations said.

"Two major issues remained open, but we prepared the ground and agreed on almost everything else," a source from the Greek government delegation said.

The contentious points are the participation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which Greece does not want, in the new bailout program, and the creation of a fund in Luxembourg with 50 billion euros of Greek assets to ensure the implementation of privatisation in the country, an idea that Athens rejects, the same source said.

"With a gun to your head, who would agree," the source said, pointing to the severity of the financial situation in which Greece and its banks find themselves, to justify the concessions the Greek government must make.

Schulz: Europe's future is uncertain

The future of Europe is uncertain, European Parliament President Martin Schulz said on Monday after eurozone leaders discussed Greece late into the night at an emergency summit in Brussels.

"Today, the European project is 'on a knife's edge'", Schulz, a member of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), told Deutschlandfunk radio, alluding to the difficult situation Europe is in due to the Greek crisis.

"In Brussels, things are on a knife's edge and the eurozone could fall apart," added Schulz, who says the SPD wants Greece to stay in the eurozone.

Commenting on the German Finance Ministry's idea of a temporary Greek exit from the eurozone, Schulz said: "This idea of a five-year exit is not on the table. We don't need to talk about it anymore."

Tsipras does not want to hand over Greek assets to the eurozone

Bloomberg reported overnight that negotiations with Greece are at a standstill again, after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected creditors' demands for the establishment of a state asset fund worth 50 billion euros, which would reduce the role of the IMF in the third bailout program.

The problem is that the fund would be based in Luxembourg, and Greece would not be able to independently manage the assets included in it, but would need approval from EU institutions for all moves. Tsipras sees such a proposal as a loss of sovereignty and refuses to agree to it.

Tsipras agreed to pension cuts and tax increases, but rejected the privatisation plan through the establishment of the fund, saying he has no mandate to sell half the state.

According to EU estimates, the assets Greece has earmarked for privatisation are worth only seven billion euros, and by establishing the fund and transferring additional assets, that amount would increase significantly.